Orbs of Sunlight
by Bayleef
Summary: Sequel to A Flame in the Darkness Ash and friends have to travle to find the five Orbs of Darkness to free the world from the black veil covering the world in darkness. 7 chapters, have ya read 'em?
1. The Journey Begins

** Chapter One - The Journey Begins**

** Phoenix Mountain had been quiet sinch the day the sun was blocked out. The reason was that Ho-oh, the thought to be extinct legandary Fire Bird Pokémon who lived there, had left and travled to Seafoam Island to meet up with Ash and Rick.**

After their defeat of the Dark Leganaries, the Dark Ho-oh had used all it's remaining strength to create five orbs.

Each orb was a blood red colour with a black centre and had a mysterious red glow around it. These orbs had the power to keep the world in complete darkness by using a black veil that blocked out the sun, moon and stars.

Ash had learned that in order for the veil to be lifted, he, along with Rick, Misty, Ho-oh and their Pokémon would have to travel the world in search of the five 'Orbs of Darkness' as they called them.

Fortunately it was easy to find the location of the Orbs because everywere they landed they created a large building. There were three buildings in the world. There was one near GoldenRod City, two Orbs lay inside. There was another near Celedon City, two Orbs lay in that one too. And the last and most important Orb was in the biggest building near Mount Silver. So Ash and the others knew were all the Orbs were.

Unfortunately, the buildings were full of traps, spells and evil Pokémon, set to gaurd the Orbs from enemies.

Nevertheless, Ash was willing to take on the challenge to try and save the world from eternal darkness.

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A large figure could be seen flying across the sky above Seafoam Island. It had an goldish glow around it that showed it had brightly coloured feathers.

Down in the Pokémon Center, Ash was setting out some Pokéfood for the eighteen hungry Pokémon that belonged to him, Rick and Misty.

He placed the food on the ground and the Pokémon instintly began eating.

"After this get some sleep, we have a long journey tomorrow" Ash told them and was answered by a few mumbles. Ash smiled and looked at his watch. It was 21:30. He had decided that, sinch the normal clocks confused him because there was no sun, he was going to use a digital watch. He nodded and headed to the door of the Pokémopn Center. He spotted Misty getting ready for some sleep and Rick already asleep after an early morning and a full day of training his Pokémon. Ash walked out of the Pokémon Center. He looked up and saw Ho-oh flying around above them. He closed his eyes and concentrated. Soon his voice came to Ho-oh's mind. _"Get some sleep Ho-oh, we'll be heading to Goldenrod early tomorrow morning"_

The rainbow coloured Pokémon turned and flew towards the mountain, were there was a dark cave perfect for hiding.

Ash yawned and walked back inside. All the Pokémon were still eating their Pokéfood and Misty was now going through her stuff, making sure she was ready for the next day. Ash sighed and sat down on one of the chairs.

Pikachu finished stuffing his face and trotted over to his trainer. He jumped up beside him and smiled up at him with big eyes.

Ash looked down at Pikachu and shook his head. "Go on"

"Pika!" Pikachu cried happily and jumped off the chair and began to rummage around in Ash's backpack before he pulled out a small packet of ketchup. He let out a small "chu" as he began to eat the ketchup.

Ash yawned again and looked over at the Pokémon. They had all finish eating and were now curled up fast asleep, Cyndaquil staying away from Raichu, remebering when Raichu shock it a few weeks ago.

Ash smiled as Pikachu jumped onto his lap, licking some of the ketchup off his paw. Ash patted the Pokémon and leaned against the back of the chair. Before he knew it he was fast asleep.

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When the sun would be raising at 06:00, Ash was sleepily trying to wake Rick and Misty while Pikachu was trying to wake the other Pokémon, receiving a jolt of electrcity from the sleeping Raichu.

By 06:35 everyone was awake and hastily trying to organise themselves, packing extra supplies and items that may come in use, though they really didn't know what they were going up against.

At 07:00 they all left the Pokémon Center and met Ho-oh, who was waiting patiently of the beach for them to arrive. Rick realeased his Pidgeot and Charizard and they stood beside Ho-oh.

"Ah, the great Pokémon air force" Ash said jokily as he walked over and climbed onto Ho-oh's back.

Pikachu jumped up onto Ho-oh's head while Rick climbed onto Charizard and Misty climbed onto Pidgeot.

Ho-oh spread it's wings and flapped hard, taking off into the sky. _"Try to keep up"_ It grinned and with that it took off.

Charizard and Pidgeot took off after Ho-oh and Ash. After a while Ho-oh was forced to slow down because Charizard and Pidgeot were starting to get tired from trying to keep up.

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They reached the outskirts of Goldenrod City by 10:00 and landed beside the strange black building that had been created by one of the 'Orbs of Darkness'.

Rick and Misty dismounted and Rick returned his Pokémon.

Ash dismounted Ho-oh and looked at the building. He took a deep breath and sighed. "Well, lets go"

The others nodded and soon they, along with Pikachu and Ho-oh, walked towards the huge door.

Ho-oh put it's beak against the door and pushed to open it. It didn't budge. Ho-oh pushed harder but still the door was shut tight.

"Great" Ash moaned. "No what?"

Ho-oh stepped back and ran forward, slamming the door with it's head, but it just stumbled back and shook it's head. It growled and reared back, opening it's mouth. A fireball appeared in it's mouth.

"Get down!" Ash yelled pushing the others away from the door.

Ho-oh realeased a Fire Blast that narrowly missed Ash and slammed into the door. There was a low rumbling as the flames swept across the door and then the flames shot through it, making a hole were the door used to be. Ho-oh grinned and looked at the others, who were looking at it strangely. _"What? I got it open didn't I?"_

Ash smiled. "Good job Ho-oh" He looked at the others. "Let's go find the Orb"

With Ash in the lead, they all headed into the dark corridor. As soon as Ash stepped foot into the building, torches lit up along the walls.

Ash looked at the torches but continued walking, keeping his eyes on the walls.

"Ash watch it!"

Ash looked ahead of him and jumped back as a blade swooped forward and narrowly missed stabbing him in the face. Ash sat of the floor and watched the blade go back into the roof and disappear. "This place must be covered in traps. Keep your gaurd up everyone" He stood up and looked up at the roof again before walking forward again, this time a little more nerviously.

Suddenly, there was a slamming noise and Ash looked back to see that bars had fallen behind him, blocking him off from the others. He felt the floor come out from under him and yelled as he fell, grabbing onto the side of the hole with one hand.

"Ash!" He heard Misty call.

"I'm ok" He called. "I think" He looked down and saw large spikes sticking up out of the ground. They had very dark red stains on them and Ash had a sickening feeling those stains were blood stains from earlier vistums who had come to explore the building. He felt his hand slip a little from the side of the hole. It reached up with his other hand and grabbed on to the side. He could still feel himself losing his grip and he was to afraid of slipping altogether to reach down and release one of his Pokémon.

Above him he heard a sound that told him Ho-oh flying. There was a smashing sound and Ho-oh flew past the hole. It must have smashed through the bars.

Ash felt himself lose his grip completely from the side of the hole and closed his eyes as he fell. He felt a hand grab onto his wrist and looked up to see Misty and Rick. He looked down and saw he was only a few centimetres from the spikes and gulped.

Rick and Misty pulled him up and he slumped down. "That.." He panted. "Was too close"

"Maybe this is a bad idea" Misty said.

Ash stood up. "No, we have to do this, right Ho-oh? Pikachu?"

The two Pokémon nodded in agreement.

Rick stood up. "Ash is right"

Ash nodded and turned to Misty. "You don't have to come if you don't want too"

Misty shook her head. "No, I'll come"

Ash smiled. "Well lets go get the first Orb of Darkness" He turned and began to walk down the corridor, Ho-oh helping them over the hole.

They had only been in there and already Ash had nearly died twice. Ash sighed, wondering if they were really gonna make it through the three buildings.

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To Be Continued

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So hows that for a first chappy? Heehee ^_^ Thanx to Thunder Mouse Pikachu for suggesting the title and please Thunder Mouse Pikachu, DON'T SUE ME! Heehee. See ya everyone in the next chappy of "Orbs of Sunlight" (Don't sue me!)  
Bay Bay!  
Bayleef  
adorable_chickorita@hotmail.com


	2. The First Orb

** Chapter Two - The First Orb**

** The corridor echoed with the sound of footsteps as Ash, Rick, Misty, Pikachu and Ho-oh made their way threw the dark building, were they hoped to find two of the Orbs of Darkness.**

Up ahead, Ash thought he heard a noise, like a sword slashing or something, and then a clank like metal hitting metal. He stopped and looked around, expecting to see axes coming out of the wall or something. There was silence. He shrugged and continued on until they came to a fork. One passage lead to the right, and another to the left. He turned to the others. "Any ideas what to do now?"

Misty looked from one to the other. "Maybe there's one orb in each passage"

Ho-oh looked from one passage to the other. _"How about we split up?"_

Rick looked at the others and they nodded. "Good idea" He looked at Ash. "You, Pikachu and Misty go one way, Ho-oh and I will go the other. How does that sound?"

Ash nodded and looked at the passages. "How do you feel about going to the left passage Misty?"

Misty nodded, but she looked a little worried. She hadn't been feeling very comfident sinch Ash had fallen down the spike trap.

The two groups said goodbye to eachother and made their way down the dark passages, torches lighting by themselves along the corridor as they walked.

Ash walked down the silent corridor, Misty close behind him. It was silent apart from their footsteps. Suddenly the sound that Ash had heard earlier came. A slash and a clank. Ash felt something grab his arm and tensed up. He looked down to see Misty clinging onto his arm. She must have got a fright when the sound came.

"What was that?" She said. Her voice was shakey.

"No idea, lets have a look" Ash began to walk forward.

Misty reluctantly followed, still clinging to his arm as though if she let go he would disappear.

Ash saw a room at the end of the corridor and quickened his pace. Pretty soon they came to the entrance to the room. They were standing on a rectangle of green marble floor at the edge of a blue room, the rest of the room was covered in water, like a pool. Ash looked around and noticed something at the oppisite side on the room. There was another rectangle of marble floor directly across from them, but it was mostly taken up by a black statue of an Articuno. When Ash looked closer he noticed something in a stand by the statue's feet. It was a red round ball, about the size of a Pokéball, with a black centre. It was one of the Orbs of Darkness.

Ash looked around the room. It didn'tlook to dangerous apart from the deep pool. He looked back at Misty. "I'm going over to try and get the Orb" He took a step forward and suddenly felt a sharpe pain in his arm. He jumped back and held his arm.

"Ash?" Misty walked up beside him. "Are you ok?"

Ash took his hand away from his shoulder. There was a thin gash lying horizontally across his arm and it was bleeding slightly. "What the?" He looked up and noticed something passing by him very quickly, making a slashing noise. Then hit the wall and there was a clank. When it shot out again he noticed it was a sharpe blade shooting across. He hated to think what would have happened if he had been a few steps farther. Well if he could get past that blade he'd be ok. He took a step forward, careful not to get to close to the blade. A burst of sound filled the room and Ash noticed that all along the surface of the water was covered by blades slicing from side to side apart from near the 'shrine' at the end. Looks like he was wrong about just passing one blade.

Pikachu lowered his ears and frowned.

Ash groaned and looked down. There were no blades in the water. He could swim under the blades and out the other side, get the Orb and come back. He stepped back and turned to Misty, taking Pikachu off his shoulder. "I'm going under"

"What?" Misty yelled. "Are you crazy? You don't know what's down there"

Ash ignored what she had just said and handed her Pikachu. "If I don't surface in five minutes, get out of here, you got it?"

"But..." Misty began, but before she could argue Ash took out a Pokéball, realeasing Totodile.

Ash walked to the right side of the marble floor were there were no blades and jumped in. He surfaced again and grabbed onto Totodile. "Let's go Totodile"

Totodile nodded and dove under the water.

Ash managed to take in some air before he was pulled under. It was pretty plain under water, a little dark and he couldn't see the bottom but thats it. He held on as Totodile swam through the water. Pretty soon Ash and Totodile surfaced at the other side. Ash took a deep breath and looked in front of him. The statue and the Orb were infront of him so he pushed himself out and grabbed the Orb. It was pretty light and very smooth. Ash shivered as he looked into the black centre, but he didn't know weither it was because he was cold or for some other reason. He looked behind him at Misty and Pikachu and grinned. "See? Piece o' cake"

Misty sighed. "Great, now get back here before something goes wrong"

Ash put the Orb into his bag before he jumped back into the water. He took a deep breath and dove under, holding onto Totodile. When he was around half way to the other side he felt the water around him go cold, unusually cold. He looked around him. He couldn't see anything except water, which was no surprize considering he was under water.

Suddenly, he felt something grab his ankle. He paniced a little and let go of Totodile. He looked down and saw something like a black tentacel reaching up from the darkness from the bottom of the pool. He shook his foot, trying to get it free, but the tentacle had a tight grip on him.

Totodile swam back to try and help his trainer, but another tentacle shot up and grabbed ahold of Totodile, trapping him.

Ash reached down to grab the tentalcle but two more appeared, one wrapped around his arm and the other around his neck, pulling him back.

Ash tried to break free, but he was unable to free himself. He couldn't hold his breath much longer and Totodile was the only one that could help him at that time, but he was tied up too.

He closed his eyes as he felt as though his lungs would explode. He couldn't hold it any longer, he let the air leave him.

Totodile paniced and tried frantically to free himself, but he couldn't.

Ash felt the darkness close in around him, and he stopped strugling to get free.

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To Be Continued

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MUHAHA! EVIL ISH ME! Lol, like it? Sorry it took so long, but with school and me sister also writing her stories it's not easy to get me story done. Well, hope for some reviews and see ya next time.  
Bay Bay!  
Bayleef  
adorable_chickorita@hotmail.com


	3. Extreme Measures

** Chapter Three - Extreme Measures**

** Rick and Ho-oh walked down the passageway, Ho-oh complaining every now and then about the corridors being too narrow.**

The came to the end of the corridor and entered a dark green room, with thin trench-like holes that were around two inches deep starting half-way across the room and reaches to the other side.

"What with the holes in the ground?" Rick asked Ho-oh as they walked in. He looked back and saw Ho-oh shook it's head. "Don't know huh? Well, hopefully it's nothing that would cause trouble" He looked around the room. At the opposite side of the room there was a large Zapdos statue, though about half the real Zapdos's normal size. At the foot of the statue was a red glowing orb with a black centre. "Look Ho-oh" Rick pointed across the room to the Orb at the foot of the statue. "It's one of the Orbs"

Ho-oh looked to were Rick was pointing. _"Well lets go get it"_

Rick nodded and looked around the room. It was very quiet. He began to walk slowly to the other side, Ho-oh beside him.

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Suddenly, Ash felt something grab his ankle. He panicked a little and let go of Totodile. He looked down and saw something like a black tentacle reaching up from the darkness from the bottom of the pool. He shook his foot, trying to get it free, but the tentacle had a tight grip on him.

Totodile swam back to try and help his trainer, but another tentacle shot up and grabbed a hold of Totodile, trapping him.

Ash reached down to grab the tentacle but two more appeared, one wrapped around his arm and the other around his neck, pulling him back.

Ash tried to break free, but he was unable to free himself. He couldn't hold his breath much longer and Totodile was the only one that could help him at that time, but he was tied up too.

He closed his eyes as he felt as though his lungs would explode. He couldn't hold it any longer, he let the air leave him.

Totodile panicked and tried frantically to free himself, but he couldn't.

Ash felt the darkness close in around him, and he stopped struggling to get free.

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Ho-oh stopped in it's tracks and stood still.

Rick stopped and looked back at Ho-oh. "Hey, you ok?"

Ho-oh didn't respond, it just fell to the ground, gasping for breath.

"Ho-oh?" Rick ran over beside it. "What's going on, what's happening?"

Ho-oh looked at him weakly._"Get...the orb...fast..."_ And with that, Ho-oh collapsed.

Rick was confused, then it hit him. "Ash..." He turned to leave, but the door sealed up behind him. He ran over and started pounding on it, but it was no use. He sighed and thought. _"Ash is with Misty, they should be ok, and I've got to get that orb"_ He turned and walked towards the Zapdos statue.

He heard a slicing noise as he reached the trenches and looked to the wall to see a giant blade, possibly the size of Ho-oh, swing towards him. He jumped back and the blade sliced down into the trench, then up to the opposite wall. It kept swinging from side to side. Another blade came out just beyond it and another beyond that until half the room was covered in blades. "Great" moaned Rick. "Now what?" He sighed and took out a Pokéball. "Charizard go!" He threw the Pokéball and in a white flash, Charizard stood before him. "Charizard, use flamethrower on those blades!"

Charizard obeyed and shot a flamethrower at it's moving target. The blade soon began to heat up and melt.

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Misty paced back and forth. "What's taking him so long?" She was beginning to get worried.

Pikachu sat at the edge of the marble floor, staring into the dark water for any signs of his trainer. "Pikachupi, pika pikachu pika pika pikachu" [Misty, I wanna go down and look for him]

Misty looked at the dark water. He had been down there a long time. "Me too, but we'll need help" She took out a few Pokéballs and threw them. Poliwhirl, Corsola, Staryu and Goldeen appeared in the water. Misty turned to Pikachu. "Let's find Ash Pikachu"

Pikachu smiled and gave her a thumbs up before jumping into the water. He held onto Corsola's horn and waited for Misty.

Misty put her bag down and jumped in, grabbing onto Staryu. "Let's go guys, no time to lose" Even though it didn't look it, she was worried about what she might find down there.

Misty handed a small mouthpiece with two small air tanks at each side ((Like the one the used in the misty mermaid)) to Pikachu and then got one for herself. They put them on and the water Pokémon dove under.

It was pretty dark, hard to see more than five metres in front of them. Pikachu closed his eyes and focused his energy into making a light without shocking. His cheeks turned yellow and it lit up the area a little more.

"Thanks Pikachu" Misty said and looked around. "Let's go a little farther Staryu"

Staryu obeyed and swam on, the other Pokémon following.

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The floor of the green room was covered in melted metal and Charizard was melting the last blade.

The last blade finally fell to the floor as a pool of melted metal. Rick nodded approvingly and stepped forward to the shrine. He picked up the Orb and looked at it. "Well that wasn't so hard"

Suddenly, there was a rumbling sound and Rick looked up to see the Zapdos statue moving to the side by itself to reveal a large dark hole. Rick gave it and confused look but the next thing he knew a spear had shot out and narrowly missed driving into his side. He looked at the spear nervously and stepped back just as another spear landed were his foot had been. "Let get about of here!" He turned and ran, grabbing onto Charizard as a furry of spears began to shoot all around them.

As Charizard turned to dodge a spear, another spear shot forward and drove into Rick side. Rick doubled over in pain and nearly fell off Charizard. He grabbed the handle of the spear and pulled it out then throwing it down to the ground.

Charizard look and growled angrily. It turned and shot a flamethrower at the dark hole by the Zapdos statue. It entered the hole and there was an explosion. When the smoke clear there wasn't a spear in sight.

Rick sighed and patted the Charizard. "Good job Charizard" He winced as he felt the pain in his side again.

Charizard flew over and landed beside Ho-oh, letting Rick down.

The door was no longer sealed, but Rick couldn't just abandon Ho-oh, so he took out a Pokéball and threw it. Raichu appeared in front of him and stretched. "Raichu, go find Ash, make sure he's ok"

Raichu nodded and ran over to the door, waving to his trainer as he left.

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"Pikapi!"

Misty looked over at Pikachu who had a terrified look on his face and was looking straight ahead. She followed Pikachu's gaze and gasped.

Totodile was struggling to get free from the dark tentacles, trying to bite and scratch at it but couldn't reach. Beyond Totodile, Misty could see Ash, but he wasn't moving.

Pikachu lets go of Corsola and swims frantically over to Ash, grabbed onto his arm and began trying to pull him away, but being so small he couldn't do much.

Misty was about to swim forward when a black tentacle shot up and grabbed Pikachu. She gave Staryu a little tug to keep it back. She was thinking of leaving before she got caught too, but when she looked at Pikachu and Ash, she couldn't. She looked at Goldeen. "Goldeen, horn attack!"

Goldeen swam forward at a high speed and struck one of the dark tentacles, freeing Pikachu from it's grasp.

"Corsola, spike cannon!" Misty called.

Corsola glowed brightly and shot a spike cannon at the dark rope like tentacles, snapping them and releasing Ash and Totodile.

Staryu shot forward and swam past Ash, Misty grabbing the back on his jacket as they did so. Staryu was directed past Pikachu and Totodile, who grabbed onto Ash's shoulder as they past.

"Come on Staryu" Misty whispered as they shot towards the end of the pool.

Staryu sped up and as they reached the end, it swam quickly upwards, landing with a thud on the small bit of floor they had to use. Staryu fell forward, exhausted. Corsola jumped up beside Staryu and Goldeen stayed in the water.

"Ash?" Misty quickly turned Ash onto his back. "Ash come on, wake up"

"Pikapi" Pikachu's ears lowered as he looked at his trainer.

Misty knew that Ash wasn't breathing. "What do we do?" She began to panic.

"Pi...ka...Pi! Pi.Ka.Chu!" {Um...uh...Ya! C.P.R!]

"What?" Misty gave Pikachu a strange look. "You mean I have to breath for him?"

Pikachu gave her a look of pleading.

Misty looked at Ash. "Alright" She sighed and, blushing furiously, bent down to Ash.

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Raichu walked down the passageway, looking around at the walls and torches. Soon he saw the room up ahead and ran forward. Unfortunately he came in at the wrong moment, and got the wrong idea. He looked over at Pikachu with a strange look and ran over. "Rai rai raichu rai" [What is going on here?]

Pikachu looked up at Riachu. "Pikapi pika pikachu pika" [Ash was drowning] He said simply, his eyes full on worry.

"Raichu rai rai chu rai?" [Then why is she kissing him?] Raichu didn't believe Pikachu completely.

"Pika chu!" [She's not!] Pikachu turned back as missed placed her hands on Ash's chest and pushed up and down counting to three. When there was no sign of life she looked at Pikachu before continuing.

"Misty was getting more worried by the second, and the thought that he mightn't wake up was growing. "One...Two..."

Ash suddenly coughed up a large amount of water and gasped for air. He rolled over onto his stomach.

"Ash?" Misty asked shocked.

"Pikapi?" Pikachu ran over beside his trainer.

Ash opened his eyes weakly and looked over at Pikachu. "Hey..."

"Pikapi!" Pikachu jumped forward and hugged his trainer.

"What happened?" Ash asked sitting up, still breathing heavily.

"You nearly drowned" Misty explained.

"Pikachu pika pikachu, pika Pikachupi pika" [And you weren't breathing, but Misty saved you] Pikachu smiled happily.

"I stopped breathing? How did Misty help me?" Ash looked up at Misty.

Misty instantly turned a bright red colour. "Um...well..."

Raichu grinned and walked over to them. It whispered into Pikachu's ear. "Raichu raichu" [Kissy kissy]

Pikachu smiled but forced himself not to laugh.

Ash looked at the water and then at Misty. Then it clicked, and he turned almost as red as Misty. "I, you mean you..."

"I had no other choice" Misty said, not looking at him.

"So you did..." Ash began.

"Oh Ash it's no big deal" Misty said standing up. "Come on, lets go before you nearly drown again" She turned and walked out of the room.

Ash looked at Pikachu."You mean she actually..."

Pikachu grinned and nodded. "Pikapi pi Pikachupi. Pikapi pi Pikachupi" [Ash and Misty. Ash and Misty] Pikachu chanted.

Ash glared at Pikachu and went slightly redder. 

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Ho-oh stirred and open it's eyes, looking around. Rick was sitting beside it. _"Hey...did ya get it?"_ Rick looked back "So your finally awake. Ya I got it, now lets go" He stood up and walked towards the exit.

Ho-oh pushed itself up and followed him.

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Ash and Misty walked along the dark corridor in silence. Every now and then Pikachu or Raichu would snigger.

They reached the end of the passage were the two paths lead off and ran into Rick.

"Hey guys, did ya have any trouble?" Rick asked.

Ash looked at Misty awkwardly. "Uh...no...easy as pie"

"Uh-huh, ya right. Then why are you wet?" Rick said as he noticed they were all soaking wet.

"We went for a little swim" Ash said. "And you don't to good yourself"

Rick noticed that his side was still bleeding. "Uh...just a little cut"

"Uh-huh, right" Ash said grinning.

"Can we get out of here please?" Misty asked.

Ho-oh looked at them. _"Misty's got a point, let's go"_ He took in a deep breath and shot a Fire Blast at the roof, smashing threw it and making a hole all the way threw. Ho-oh bent down to let Ash on.

Rick let Charizard and Pidgeot out as Ash got onto Ho-oh. He got onto Charizard while Misty climbed onto Pidgeot. The three flying Pokémon flew up through the roof and out into the darkness.

When they were out, Ho-oh turned and used a fire blast to destroy the building. There was an explosion and all that was left of the building was burning rubble.

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When they came close to Goldenrod, Ash convinced Ho-oh to go into a Pokéball and they headed into the town. They spent a while trying to find the Pokémon Center and after renting separate rooms and handing in their Pokémon, they all decided to sleep.

Ash was staring at the ceiling and thinking. _"Two down and three to go"_ He sighed and turned onto his side. The next day they would be heading to Celadon City, and the next two Orbs of Darkness. 

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To Be Continued

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Well there you have it, they are out! Now just to go through two more, heehee. Man, it's harder than I thought coming up with traps, but I have a few ideas. Heehee, hope to see ya in the next chappy and reviews are appreciated. I read 'em all coz I love to know what people think of me stories and are they ok. Lol, well, see ya,   
Bay Bay!  
Bayleef  
adorable_chickorita@hotmail.com


	4. Sharp Edge

** Chapter Four - Sharp Edge**

** At 6 o' clock the next morning, Ash lazily dragged his bag along the ground as he, Rick, Pikachu, Raichu and Misty left the Pokémon Center. The streets were empty and silent.**

Ash held a Pokéball in his hand, which kept shaking violently. "Stop it Ho-oh" Ash said to the Pokéball. "We're nearly out of Goldenrod"

When they reached the outskirts of Goldenrod City, Ash held out the Pokéball and Ho-oh appeared.

Ho-oh spread it's wings and streched. _"How can Pokémon live in those things, it's awfully cramped"_

"Ya, whatever" Ash yawned. "Look, can we just get going to Celadon City? The sooner this is over the sooner I'll be able to get a good nights sleep" He shivered from the cold. "And the sooner it will actually be warm around here. Without the sun's heat we'll eventually turn into icicals"

"I agree with Ash" Rick yawned and took out two Pokéballs, realeasing his larger than average Charizard and Pidgeot.

Ash sighed and walked over to Ho-oh. "Well, here we go again"

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As Celadon came into view a few hours, so did the second building containing two more Orbs of Darkness.

Ash, Rick, Misty, Pikachu, Ho-oh and Raichu stand in front of the huge doors into the building. "Wonder if it's anything like the last building" Ash said.

Pikachu, who was sitting on his shoulder, grinned and whispered. "Pika pika cha pika pikachu pika?" [Hope your gonna nearly drown again?]

Ash glared at Pikachu. "Are you ever gonna let me live that down?"

Pikachu thought for a while. "Pi....Pika" [Um....Nope] Pikachu's grin grew wider and he jumped of Ash's shoulder and down beside Raichu, who had heard them and was sniggering.

Ash frowned and shook his head. He looked at the door and then back at Ho-oh. "Would you do the honours?"

_"Certainly"_ Ho-oh grinned and drew back, before realeasing a fire blast on the large door. Within two minutes they were entering the building.

This building was a little scarier the last. Were the torches used to be, their were statues of Moltres and Lugia, who's eyes lit up red, lighting the corridor was they walked.

Ash looked at the staues. "Ok, three guesses which of the two Dark Legandaries Orbs are stored away in here"

"Uh...Ho-oh and Lugia?" Rick said.

Ash gave him a strange look.

"I was kidding" Rick said and shook his head. "Come on, the sooner we get the Orbs the sooner we can leave"

----------- 

After around half an hour of walking Misty stopped and looked around. "We've been here before! Twice!" Misty looked at Rick, who was the one leading them. "Now I know were Ash gets his bad sence of direction"

"Well if your so great, why don't you go in front?" Ash asked. He knew Misty didn't want to go first in case of any traps, and when this was confirmed with no reply from Misty, Ash smirked.

Ho-oh shook it's head. _"We're never going to get the Orbs if we don't get through this maze"_

"Well then lets get going" Ash turned and began to walk down the path.

_"He's going to get himself hurt again"_ Misty thought to herself. Little did she know that's exactually what Rick, Raichu and Pikachu were thinking.

Ho-oh, on the other hand, followed Ash on, looking almost as comfordent as Ash.

----------- 

Unfortunately, confidence didn't get them anywere and within an hour they had passed the same placed at least seven times.

Ash stopped and looked at the famillier statues along the wall. He scratched the back of his head. "Uh..."

"I'm exhausted" Misty moaned sitting down. "Thanks to Mister Walkalot over there" She said looking at Ash.

"Well what do we do now?" Rick asked. "We've been following the only path through this place and we keep ending up back here, now we can't even find an exit"

Ash looked along the walls. "Maybe there's secret entrance or something"

Ho-oh looked at the walls angrily. _"Heres your secret entrance!"_ Ho-oh reared up and shot a Fire Blast at the wall, blasting threw it.

When the smoke cleared, it showed a hollow area.

Ho-oh looked at the new path, a little shocked. _"It actually worked?"_

Ash grinned. "Alright, way to go Ho-oh!" He stepped forward into the new path.

It looked just like the others, staues of Lugia and Moltres lighting the way, the same dark walls that looked like they were made of marble but if you touched them, felt like slime was on them.

Ash watched the staues light up along the path before continuing on.

----------- 

Unlike the route they had been taking before, this passage was a complete maze. Paths crossing eachother, and at some time's they'd come to a place with five different routes.

Pikachu was the one who usually decided the direction, because the others kept fighting on which way they should go, though a few times they agreed to Ho-oh's idea when it glared at them.

"Hey, I think we're out" Ash said as he noticed the single passage in front of them.

"Finnally" Moaned Misty.

"Would you quiet moanin'?" Ash said as he headed down the path.

The others followed, but everyone stopped in their tracks when they heard a grinding noise. They looked back and saw Ho-oh was stuck in the entrance to the passage and trying to wriggle itself free.

"Uh Ho-oh, I don't think your gonna fit" Ash stated.

_"Really? What makes you think that?"_ Ho-oh asked in a sarcastic tone as it struggled to pull itself out, but it was stuck either way.

Ash took out a Pokéball. "Guess it's back to the Pokéball with you"

Ho-oh groaned and stopped struggling.

"And be quiet this time" Ash held up and returned the giant bird to the Pokéball. He put the Pokéball in his pocket and headed down the path.

Pikachu trotted happily beaide Ash and looked around. He stopped sudenly when he saw the ground. "Pikapi pikachu" Pikachu said to his trainer as he pointed to the ground.

"Hm?" Ash turned around. "What's the matter Pikachu?"

"Pikachu" Pikachu repeated, pointing at the ground.

Ash gave Pikachu a quzzical look and knelt down beside him. Then he saw what Pikachu was talking about. The ground was scratched badly, like something had been dragged across it. Vertical and diagonal lines covered the ground. "How did those get there?" He asked as Rick, Misty and Raichu stopped behind them.

As if to answer his question, two giant slabs fell out of the roof, landing on either side of the passage. Spikes about a foot long shot out from the slabs and slowly the walls began to move towards them.

"Another trap!" Ash said jumping up.

"Well spotted genius!" Misty yelled. "Now what?"

Pikachu looked from one wall to the other and began to panic. Without thinking, he charged up and realeased a Thunderbolt on the walls.

When the Thunderbolt hit, it rebonded off the wall and shot out again. Pretty soon Ash, Rick and Misty were jumping from side to side trying to didge the Thunderbolt that kept bouncing from one wall to the other.

Raichu found it amusing, but when he saw the walls closing in a little more, he decided to help. He used a Thundershock as the Thunderbolt headed towards him. The attacks met and were both shot up towards the roof, causing some of rock from the stone ceiling to fall down. Luckily none of the pieces were too big, but Ash got a cut down the side of his face and a large rock hit his forearm while Misty got one on her arm and Rick got one of the larger rocks landing on his foot.

Ash looked up and noticed there was a hollow in the ceiling. "Hey guys, a wa out!"

Rick stopped hopping around from when the rock landed on his foot and looked up. "All right! I'll just get Charizard and..."

"You can't" Ash butted in. "Charizard's to big, if you let it out it's most likely going to get hurt by the spikes"

"Well then what do we do?" Misty asked, bumping into Ash as she steped away from the spikes which were slowly closing in.

Ash looked around and then noticed that the spikes were pretty well spaced out at that moment. "It's like a ladder" Ash said in a voice barely loud enough to hear.

"What did you say? What about a ladder?" Misty asked.

Ash walked towards the spikes, slipped between some and grabbed onto one. They were pretty strong, stronger than he'd expected. He put his foot on one that was near the bottom and put his weight on it. It was strong enough to surport him. He looked at the other. "Let's climb it, I think it's strong enough" He looked up and grabbed on of the spikes above him and pulled himself up.

Misty walked over and nervously began to climb. After her came Pikachu, then Raichu and finnally Rick.

After about a minute of careful but nervous climbing, Ash reached the ceiling and climbed out. He sighed with relief and looked down. There was still alot of room to go before the spikes on either sie of the walls would meet the oppisite side so it look like they would be ok. But he didn't want to take chances. "Hurry up guys"

Pikachu jumped from one spike to the other. Being so small it was easy enough for him and soon he jumped up beside Ash.

Misty climbed up a minute later and Rick after that. Unfortunately, Rick had a few scratchs because by the time he was near the top the spikes were starting to get a bit close.

They sighed and stood up. This passage was a little different. There were no statues by the walls, but the ceiling had spots that glowed, which was now their guide in the dark pasageway.

Ash looed curiously around. He shrugged and walked on down the passageway.

Pikachu and the others followed. It was quiet and the light was dim.

Well, it was quiet for a while.

Ash suddenly heard a slashing sound coming from behind them. Him and Pikachu turned at the same time and saw that coming towards them at a high speed, were hundreds of spikes.

Spikes shot out from the wall, driving into the oppisite side of the passage, and these spikes left no room to escape.

"Run!" Ash turned and began to run the opposite way to the spikes. Pikachu followed him and Raichu, who had seen the spikes, ran after them.

Rick and Misty looked at eachother and then back, when they saw the spikes they turned and ran as fast as they could after Ash, Raichu and Pikachu.

As he ran, Ash noticed that the wall was covered in black and red bricks. Looking back he also saw that the spikes were shooting out of the red ones. He turned to look ahead of him and saw that the red bricks seemed to stop at the end of the passage.

Misty was running to hard and tripped over her own foot. She cursed her stupidity and knew she wouldn't be able to get up fast enough to get away from the approaching spikes.

The next thing she knew she felt someone pull her too her feet. "Run God damn it!" Rick yelled and began pushed Misty forward as they began to run again.

Ash reached the end of the passage and looked back."Come on! Run faster!" The spikes were getting pretty close to Misty and Rick now.

Misty was a little ahead of Rick now and as she reached the edge of the passage, she didn't stop and ran into Ash, knocking him down.

Rick was just near the edge when the spike caught up. He had been turned to the side a little as he dodge one of the spikes when another shot out and drove into the pame of his hand. He gasped in pain as he heard a sickening crack and a sharpe pain in his hand. Luckily that was the last spike in the passage. Unfortunately the spike had driven right through Rick's hand and was sticking into the wall.

-----------

To Be Continued

-----------

Well there ya go, part 4. I know it was pretty boring at the begining but whacha gonna do? I'm gonna start work on chappy 5 as soon as I can but now that I'm back to school it's probably gonna take a while. Well, see ya,  
Bay Bay!  
Bayleef  
adorable_chickorita@hotmail.com


	5. How do They Manage It?

** Chapter Five - How Do They Manage It?**

** Ash pushed himself up and rubbed his head. Misty had knocked him back and caught him by surprise, so he felt kind of dizzy. **

Misty sat up and looked at Ash. "Uh...sorry"

"No problem" Ash said. 

"Little help?" Rick said, breathing heavily to stop himself from yelling in pain. 

"Wha...?" Ash looked over. "How did you manage that?" He stood up and walked over to him. He cringed when he saw the spike driving into the wall through Rick's hand. "That looks sore"

"Ya think?" Rick said giving Ash an 'Are you serious?' look. 

Misty walked over and placed her hand on the spike. "This isn't going to be easy to break"

"Why don't we using Ho-oh?" Ash suggested.

"No way, not Ho-oh" Rick said.

"Why not?" Ash asked.

"That bird would probably end up burning him alive" Misty explained. "We gotta figure out another way"

Ash and Misty looked at the ground and began to think.

After a few minutes Rick looked from one to the other. "Could you possibly think a little faster?" He said, as this wasn't exactly comfortable for him.

Pikachu tilted his head and his cheeks sparked.

Rick's eyes widened. "No, wait!"

Too late, Pikachu released a Thundershock on the spike. The shock travels through the spike and Rick fell over after getting shocked.

Pikachu scratched his head and gave a little "Pika" of apology.

After a minute or two Ash snapped his fingers. "Bayleef's Razor leaf"

"Good idea Ash" Misty said.

Ash picked up a Pokéball and tossed it. It was a Pokédex fact that Bayleef have very powerful Razor Leaf attacks. "Bayleef, Razor leaf that spike"

Bayleef nodded and swung her head forward, releasing a Razor Leaf.

The Razor leaf cut right through the spike and it crumpled to pieces.

Rick pulled away and held his hand, which was bleeding badly. "Thanks"

Bayleef smiled and nodded before Ash returned her into her Pokéball.

Misty cringed. "That looks pretty bad, we better bandage it up" She sat down and placed her bag on her lap and began to rummage through it. She pulled out a roll of bandages and a few cloths. She then took out a Pokéball and threw it, releasing Corsola, who jumped up and down happily. "Corsola, use your water gun to wet these cloths"

Corsola stopped jumping and used a water gun on the four cloths Misty had held out.

Misty nodded to Corsola. "Thanks" She squeezed the cloths out and threw one to Rick. "Try to clean out that would a little and you" She turned to Ash, throwing one to him too. "Same story for those injuries you got back when Pikachu blew the ceiling up"

Ash and Rick grabbed them and looked at each other.

"Now!" Misty ordered.

Ash jumped and began cleaning the blood off his arm and face. The rock that hit his arm had done more damage than he'd first thought. Most likely some of it was stuck inside the large cut that was there, so he started to try and clean in out.

Rick groaned. He really didn't like this, the cold water stung the wound and he didn't see the point of trying to stop the bleeding when he had a hole going right through his hand.

After a few minutes, Rick was still moaning and Ash was just finished. The cut was still bleeding but it wasn't as bad.

Misty took out two rolls of bandages and walked over to them. "Here" She said and handed one to Ash and the other to Rick. She turned and walked back over to Corsola.

Ash looked at the bandages. What was he supposed to do? He'd never bandaged anything in his life. Well, there's a first time for everything.

But some things occur more often than they should and once again, Ash had made a mess of it. _"I feel like an in-training Chansey"_ Ash thought as he tried to untangle the bandages that were after knotting up.

Rick wasn't doing any better than Ash was. If there was something that he knew he couldn't do, it was to use bandages properly.

Misty looked over at the two and shook her head. "Can't you two do anything right?" She stood up and walked over to them.

Ash looked up at her and grinned, "Not this" He tried to separate his hands, which were now stuck together by the bandages.

Pikachu and Raichu watched amusedly but kept alert for anything unusual.

Misty shook her head and went over to Rick. She quickly untangled the bandages and helped him put it on his hand, which was still bleeding badly.

Rick winced when Misty tightened the bandage as she was finishing up. "Thanks" He said and looked at his hand.

Misty smiled and went over to Ash, who had somehow gotton himself even more tangled up and now had his feet tied together. "How do you manage to make such a mess?"

"Don't ask me" Ash said as he glared over at Pikachu, who was laughing loudly.

Misty bent down and began to help untangle him. It took a while but finally Ash was free. Misty began to bandage up his arm.

Ash smiled as Misty finished up. "Thanks Misty" He looked up from his arm and looked at her.

"S'ok" Misty looked up and her eyes met Ash's. She was frozen for a minute, lost in his eyes as she looked at him and he looked at her.

After a minute of silence Ash was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable and gave her a confused look. "Misty, are you ok?"

Misty shook her head and snapped out of her daze. She stood up quickly. "Ya fine, let's go" She turned and began to walk off.

Ash was a little confused but he was snapped back to reality when he heard someone sniggering. He looked over at the giggling Pikachu and Raichu. Then he look beside him at Rick, who was grinning. "What?"

"Nothing" Rick said in an innocent tone.

Ash frowned, having a feeling he knew what his dad was thinking. "She's not my girlfriend!" Ash whispered angrily to Rick.

Rick just smiled as Ash got up and walked after Misty. "Kids these days" He shook his head and stood up, heading after the others.

-----------

To Be Continued

-----------

Lol, ok, I know this part is much shorter than the others, and doesn't have much point *coughs* but I couldn't put much more into it, and I felt kinda giddy and some of this is kinda fun to imagine. Well, for me at least. Ok, so I've decided to put a little Ash and Misty stuff in this, nothing major. Heehee, well, as usual I've run out of things to say, except to repeat myself in saying thanks for the past reviews and I hope you guys will give me a few more. See ya next time,  
Bay Bay!  
Bayleef  
adorable_chickorita@hotmail.com


	6. Orbs and Eyes

** Chapter Six - Orbs and Eyes**

** Ash felt something move in his pocket and put his hand in. He pulled out the Pokéball containing Ho-oh, which was shaking. He had a look around and thought that this place was big enough for Ho-oh to fit, so he dropped the Pokéball, releasing the giant legendary bird. **

Ho-oh shook it's head and stretched a little when it got out. _"What happened? My wing hurts"_ It noticed the bandage of Ash's arm. _"What have I missed now?"_

Ash sighed and began explaining everything to Ho-oh about the spikes and the closing in walls.

----------- 

Ho-oh walked slowly behind the three humans and their Pokémon. The path was empty and no sign of traps or anything of the sort.

"Don't let your guard down guys" Ash warned. "Remember what happened last time"

The others nodded and looked around. Pikachu and Raichu stood by their masters sides and watched the path in front of them, like a Charizard eyeing it's prey.

The group walked on in silence, apart from an occasional yawn from Ho-oh, who was finding it rather annoying that they had entered this place six hours ago and still hadn't found anything.

The came to a point were the path slide down like a skateboarding ramp. Ash gave it a strange look before shrugging and sitting down at the edge.

"Ash, what are you doing?" Misty asked.

"I'm goin' down" He said grinning. He pushed himself off the edge and slide down the ramp like a slide. A very tall slide.

"Pikapi! Pi ka chu!" [Ash! Wait for me!] Pikachu jumped down after his trainer.

Misty looked down. "Well, here goes nothing" She took a deep breath and jumped off the edge.

Rick and Raichu looked at each other and grinned before jumping down also.

Ho-oh watched them leave. It frowned when it saw that there was no way it could fit, so it perched itself on the ledge and moaned._"Just tell me what's down there"_

Ash slide to the center of the 'ramp' laughing. That was definitely the more fun part of this quest so far. He looked back and saw Pikachu sliding towards him. He reached out and picked up the little electric Pokémon. "Hey that was fun wasn't it?" He said turning his back away from were he and Pikachu had slid down.

"Pika" Pikachu said happily. He looked behind Ash. "Pikachu!" He cried pointing back.

"Huh?" Ash looked behind him and saw Misty sliding down and stopping just beside him. "Hey, have fun?"

Misty was breathing heavily and glared at him.

"Oops, I forgot you don't like fast moving rides" Ash said scratching the back of his head.

"Get out of the way!"

Ash looked up and saw that Rick, unlike Misty, didn't know how to stop. He didn't have time to move and Rick slammed right into him.

Misty sniggered as she looked at the two sit up and rub their heads. It was very amusing to watch the two do the exact same actions. "Like father like son" She said.

Ash and Rick looked at Misty and then at each other, then back to Misty. "What do you mean?" Ash asked.

Misty shook her head. "Never mind, lets go"

They all stood up and looked around. In front of them they saw that the 'ramp' led up the other side.

"Oh man" Ash moaned. "How are we supposed to get up that thing?"

Before the others could answer, there was a loud rumbling sound.

Ash frowned and looked around. "Not again, this place has traps all over" He was getting a little fed up with all the traps that kept popping up.

Sure enough, at the opposite side of the ramp, a large bolder fell and rolled down the side, shooting towards them.

Ash and the others quickly ran out of the way and the boulder flew past them.

_"Well that wasn't so hard"_ Ash thought.

Ho-oh yawned again and straight ahead. Suddenly a large boulder came up in front of it before falling back down the ramp. Ho-oh shook his head and looked again. When it saw there was nothing in front of it, it sighed. _"I'm sleep deprived"_

The boulder rolled back down the ramp and shot towards the others again, this time picking up speed.

Ash looked back the boulder. "It's coming back!"

Pikachu turned and faced the approaching boulder, eyes narrowed. "Pika..." He said as he began to charge up the electricity stored within him.

Raichu looked at Pikachu and nodded. He stepped beside the smaller mouse Pokémon and his cheeks sparked too.

The two little Pokémon released two powerful beams of electricity shot forward and combined into one. The beam shot the rolling boulder in the centre and, as it rolled, cut right through it, splitting the boulder in half.

Each half of the boulder went in different and smashed into the walls at either side of Ash and the others.

Ash sighed. "Man that was close" He looked at Pikachu, who had walked back over beside him. "Thanks Pikachu"

Pikachu smiled happily and gave him a thumbs up.

"You two Raichu" Rick said patting the Pokémon on the head.

Ash looks up and notices something in the centre of the boulder. "Hey, what's that?" He walked over to one half of the boulder. There were two small dust-covered objects in the centre. He knelt down beside them and brushed off some of the dust. "It's the two orbs!" He picked up the two 'Orbs of Darkness' which lay in the centre.

"The sneaks! They hid them in the boulder thinking we wouldn't find it" Misty said.

"Pretty smart, but we were smarter" Ash said standing up.

"Ya, that's kinda hard to believe" Misty said grinning.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Ash yells.

"That it's hard to believe your smarter than someone" Misty said simply.

Ash turned and faced her. "You take that back!"

There were many comments said and arguing in the next few minutes, and Rick just stood at the side grinning at the two's pointless fighting.

By now the two had forgotten what they were fighting about, but being so stubborn Ash wouldn't give up a fight, and Misty never gave up an argument.

Finally Ash said the one thing that always resulted with a whack in the head. "Scrawny witch!"

"Why you...!" Misty clenched her hands into a fist.

Ash knew at once that he had gone to far. He glanced at Rick for a little help.

Rick folded his arms, but raised one arm and pointed at one of his eyes.

Ash gave him a strange look and then he remembered.

**FLASHBACK**

It was about a week previously, before they had set out in search of the 'Orbs of Darkness'. Ash and Misty had gotton into an argument and Ash had gone to far when he called her ugly.

Ash rubbed his head as Misty stormed off.

Rick looked up from the Pokémon, who he was feeding, and shook his head. "That girls got some temper huh?"

Ash groaned and got up off the ground. His head was pounding so he sat in one of the chairs.

"I used to get in trouble like that too, except with some girls with worse tempers, but I found away around it" Rick said.

"How?" Ash said looking up.

"Two words" Rick said sitting on the chair next to him. "Eevee eyes"

"Eevee eyes?" Ash repeated.

"Yup, all girls fall for it. Ever wonder why little kids can get away with murder when they give their parents that weird look. Well, that's were Eevee's eyes come from"

"I still don't get it" Ash said scratching his head.

"You know the way girls seem to completely change when they're around Eevee? It's coz of the way they look at 'em" Rick said leaning back.

"So I gotta make myself look like an Eevee?" Ash asked.

"To put it simple..." Rick said. "...Give 'em a big eye's kinda look, like when someone's about to cry or something. Gets 'em every time"

**END FLASHBACK**

Ash thought this was as good a time as any to try the old 'Eevee Eye's' trick. Last time He got an awful giving out to by Ho-oh for letting Misty hurt him, and he didn't want a giant, fire-breathing legendary Pokémon yelling at him again.

Ash looked up at Misty, who now had her fist raised. He sighed and looked down a little, still keeping his eyes and Misty's connected. "I'm sorry Misty" He said in a child-like voice.

Misty's eyes softened a little. Why did she feel so strange all of a sudden? It was like the feeling she got when she looked into a cute Pokémon's eyes when it was scared.

Rick looked at Ash, a little surprised.

Misty lowered her fist. "Alright, I'll let you off, but just this once!" She walked past Ash and towards the edge of the ramp.

Rick walked over to Ash. "You might be even better than I am"

Ash looked up and grinned. "I can't believe that actually worked"

Misty looked back. "What are you two talking about?"

"Nothing" Ash and Rick said in an amused tone.

Misty shrugged and began walking to the area were the wall curved up.

Ash and Rick looked at each other and grinned before following Misty.

Pikachu looked at Raichu. "Pika pikachu?" He asked confused. What exactly had just happened?

Raichu smiled and began to explain to Pikachu about Rick's 'technique' for dodging trouble.

Rick took out two Pokéballs and released Charizard and Pidgeot. Ash and Misty were sent up first with Pikachu sitting on Charizards head.

After Rick had got up, Ho-oh frowned. _"You got the orbs without me again?"_

Ash looked down at the orb in his hand and then at the one Rick had. "Uh...sorry Ho-oh"

Ho-oh sighed. _"It's ok, it's just I keep missing everything"_

Misty looked around. "How do we get out of here?"

Ho-oh looked at the roof and smiled. _"Why don't we take the short cut?"_ Ho-oh reared back and released a Fire Blast, causing a hole to appear in the roof.

Some of the rubble from the ceiling fell down and one of the rocks landed on Rick's foot.

Rick jumped up and down. "Not again" He groaned.

Ash grinned and walked over to Ho-oh. "Let's get outta here" He climbed up onto Ho-oh's back. Pikachu jumped up after him.

Misty went over and patted Pidgeot before climbing on.

Rick climbed onto Charizard's back, still groaning. His hand was beginning to hurt again, which was no surprise to him.

The three flying Pokémon flew out of the hole in the roof, which Ho-oh had made a little bigger, not wanting to get stuck.

After Ho-oh, Pikachu, Charizard and Raichu had reduced the building to rubble, they Pokémon flew back towards Celadon City.

----------- 

After Ash had finally forced Ho-oh into it's 'undersize' Pokéball, they headed to the hospital to get Rick's hand checked out. Stubborn as he was, Rick wouldn't let the doctors keep him in overnight, so the stitched it up and then he left, not even coming close to asking their questions about were he'd got the injury.

"Stupid doctors" Rick said as they left. "They're so nosey"

----------- 

The group headed to the Pokémon Center and handed in their Pokémon before setting themselves up for a well needed rest.

Tomorrow they would be heading to Silver Cave, and the last Orb of Darkness.

-----------

To Be Continued

-----------

Lol, wasn't that a strange chapter? Don't ask about the thing with 'Eevee Eyes' (Kinda like 'Puppy Dog Eyes'). It's just an idea that came to mind and I felt I had to use ^_^;; Well that's all for now, see yaz in the next chappy!  
Bay Bay!  
Bayleef  
adorable_chickorita@hotmail.com


	7. Mix Up

** Chapter Seven - Mix Up**

** Ash slept in the next day and by the time he was awake, Rick, Misty and the Pokémon were already up eating breakfast. Ash yawned and sat up, looking at his watch. It was 12:46. He shook his head and looked again. No, it wasn't 12:46, it was 12:47. "Did I really sleep in that late?" Ash asked as he stood up and walked over to the others.**

"Don't worry about, Mr. Lazy over there only woke up a minute or two ago" Misty said looking at Rick.

Rick looked up from his breakfast with his mouth full of food. "Hmm?"

Ash's stomach grumbled. "My stomachs reminding me it's empty" He sat down next to Pikachu, who offered him some ketchup. He refused and instead started stuffing his face with pancakes.

Ash suddenly felt something shaking in his pocket and looked down. He took Ho-oh's Pokéball out of his pocket and looked at it. It was shaking crazily and suddenly there was a click sound. "Ho-oh no!"

Too late, the Pokéball opened and the large legendary bird appeared in the center of the busy Pokémon Center.

Ho-oh stretched his wings but stopped when he heard a few screams. It looked around and noticed Ash hadn't been letting it out after all. He nervously looked around at the trainers, who were all looking at it in shock.

"Wow!" A man ran in front with a camera. "This is front page stuff!" He held the camera up to his face and began to take pictures of the giant Pokémon in front of him.

Ho-oh, startled by the flashing camera, began to stomp it's feet, causing a small earthquake that was knocking pictures off the wall. Ash jumped up and held out the Pokéball, "Ho-oh return!" A red beam shot out of the Pokéball and hit the Pokémon, returning the upset looking pokemon into it's Pokéball.

Rick stood up and walked over to Ash. "We better get going before..."

"Isn't that Ash Ketchum? The kid that won the Orange League a while back?" Came a persons voice.

"And he was at the Indigo Plateau Pokémon League too. He got a Ho-oh?"

"Mr. Ketchum" A man ran up with a notepad and pen. Probably a journalist. "How did you capture such a rare Pokémon?"

Ash quickly shoved the Pokéball into his pocket. "What Pokémon?"

"The Ho-oh" The journalist said.

"What Ho-oh?" Ash asked nervously.

"The one you just returned" The journalist replied getting a little annoyed.

Ash put on a clueless expression. "What one I just returned?"

"Don't play dumb with me kid" The journalist said in an annoyed tone. "Everyone in this Pokémon Center saw you return a Ho-oh and release it too"

"Oh, that Pokémon..." Ash looked at Rick for help, but the clueless expression on Rick's face told him he was on his own. "Uh...it's not really a Ho-oh"

"What do you mean?" The journalist gave him a confused look, along with Rick and Misty.

"Uh...I'll have to get back to you on that" Ash said. He didn't have a clue why he had said that, but when you panic you say strange things. He turned and looked at the others. "Let's get out of here" He turned and ran towards the Pokémon Center door, Rick, Misty and the Pokémon following.

"But wait..." The journalist began, but it was too late, they were already out of sight.

----------- 

Ash and the others finally stopped when they reached a dark spot outside Celadon. Rick's Charizard and Ash's Cyndaquil were the only source of light they had now.

Ash took out the Pokéball and let Ho-oh out. The Pokémon appeared in front of him. "What did you think you were doing?! Now all those people know about you and by tomorrow half the world will. And not to mention everyone thinks I caught you, which means they're going to be annoying me too"

Ho-oh lowered it's head sadly. _"I'm sorry Ash. It's just I was stuck in there so long and when you picked up the Pokéball I thought you were letting me out. I'm sorry"_

Ash sighed. "It's not your fault, I should have let you out sooner" He walked up and patted Ho-oh's beak. "Well, we don't have time to worry about that now" He looked back the others. "Right now we have to worry about the next orb"

The others nodded and returned the Pokémon except for Charizard, Raichu and Pidgeot.

Ash returned his Pokémon and clipped the Pokéballs to his belt. He turned to Ho-oh and smiled. "Let's go get that orb Ho-oh"

Ho-oh looked up. _"You mean you're not angry at me?"_

Ash walked over beside Ho-oh. "Nah, I couldn't stay angry at you even if I tried" He climbed on Ho-oh's back. "Let's go buddy" He said as Pikachu jumped onto Ho-oh's head.

Ho-oh smiled and spread it's wings and readied itself for take off.

----------- 

Soon, Mount Silver came into view. The normally beautiful scene was destroyed by a large black building right on top of the mountain.

Pikachu was now sitting by his trainer. Without the sun, it had become quite cold in the Pokémon World, and also being so high up in a mountain made it colder. Pikachu had caught a little bit of a cold and now his since of smell was a little messed up.

Ho-oh landed carefully in front of the large door and lowered it's head to let Ash down. It's eyes scanned the area, making sure there was nothing around them.

Ash slid down and landed by Ho-oh's side. He patted the Pokémon and looked at the door. He felt Pikachu jump onto his shoulder.

"You ready?" Rick asked, who had just landed with Charizard. Misty landed beside them with Pidgeot.

Ash smiled. "More than I'll ever be. Ho-oh Fire Blast!"

The giant bird grinned and released a Fire Blast on the door, slowly melting it.

Ash turned to the others. "This place is most likely going to be the most dangerous, so be careful"

The Fire Blast shot through the door and travelled a little down the corridor before Ho-oh stopped the attack.

Ash took a deep breath and sighed. "Let's go" He walked into the building, looking along the corridor.

This building was lit by a line of fire, which stretched across the walls, like a fiery hand rail.

Ho-oh looked along the corridor. _"I'm too big for this corridor. Return me but let me out as soon as possible, ok?"_

Ash looked at Ho-oh, a little confused that it had suggested going into a Pokéball, but shrugged. "Ok" Ash held up the Pokéball and returned Ho-oh, putting the Pokéball into his pocket.

The group walked silently down the corridor, alert in case of anything unexpected happened.

Ash led the group, ignoring the warnings of being the one to fall into the traps.

----------- 

[Ok, I spy, with my little eye...something beginning with...b] Pikachu said to Raichu as they walked down the corridor.

[B? Um...] Raichu looked around the dark corridor. [B...b...Black!]

[Dam, I thought that was a hard one] Pikachu said frowning.

"I'm starting to think this place is empty" Misty said. They had been walking for at least two hours and still not a single trap or orb had been found.

"Ya, maybe we should go back and try that other path that..." Ash was cut off mid-sentence when the ground burst open under him. He had just enough time to yell before he fell down.

"Ash!" Misty and Pikachu ran forward towards the hole. There was a strange sliding noise as they neared it, but only for a second. Misty looked in and saw Ash, sitting in a shallow hole. "What the?"

Ash looked up at her. "Guess they never finished building this trap" He stood up and noticed the trap was only a little taller than he was. He pulled himself out, with a little help from Misty, and looked in. "I think there running out of idea's"

"Ditto" Rick said, as he looked in. 

"Ditto? What do you mean by Ditto?" Ash asked.

"You know, I agree?" Rick explained.

"Oh, right, I knew that" Ash said. "Come on, lets go" He turned and started walking down the corridor again.

Misty and Rick followed along with Raichu and Pikachu.

----------- 

Ash didn't say a word as he walked, and he seemed to know exactly were he was going, though he had to stop every now and then to check things on the walls.

Pikachu followed, but something wasn't right around here. Something just didn't feel right. Maybe it was something in the building.

After about five hours a large door came into view. It was very tall but to narrow for Ho-oh to fit, so Ash made no move to take it out of his pocket.

Raichu walked up to the door and placed his paws on it. The door creaked and opened easily.

"Come on, let's check it out" Ash said walking straight in.

"Ash, be careful" Misty shook her head and walked in after him.

The room was round in shape, or at least that's what it seemed like. There was a narrow path leading to the centre of the room and beside it was nothing to support them. It looked like a bottomless pit when they looked down. Nothing but darkness below them.

"Ash, I don't like this place" Misty said. Just looking at the darkness made her feel cold.

There was a suddenly slam and they turned and saw the door was shut. Raichu and Rick, who were closest, tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. "I think we're trapped" Rick said.

"Ditto" Ash said, his voice sounded a little amused.

"Ya, I agree too" Misty said.

Ash just grinned, but not in a friendly way.

Misty looked at him. "Ash?"

Ash looked up. "Can't you recognise a fake when you see one?"

Misty gave Ash a strange look. "What? You mean this isn't a real trap?"

Ash laughed a little. "I'm not talking about the trap" He sighed and looked at her. "I'm talking about me"

"What?" Rick turned and faced him.

"And Pikachu, can't you tell your trainer from a Pokémon?" Ash said looking at Pikachu.

[What are you talking about?] Pikachu said.

Ash laughed a little before answering Pikachu's question. "I'm one of the best transforming Ditto in the World. I can change into the exact double of any living thing, even a human"

Misty shook her head. "Ash, cut it out"

'Ash' grinned at her, but ignored what she had said. "And now the _real_ Ash is off in a secret passage, all alone with no one to help him"

"What secret passage, we didn't find any" Rick's fist was now shaking with fury.

"Well" 'Ash' said. "When Ash fell down the trap, a new slab covered up the slide he had fallen down, then all I had to do was quickly transform and take his place until I led you here"

"And why did you lead us here?" Misty asked.

'Ash' turned to the center of the room. He passed the narrow path easily, which the real Ash wouldn't have been able to accomplish without a Vine Whips help. He opened a box and a small item floated up. Pikachu recognised it as Dark Ho-oh's Dark Orb. It floated up and stopped half way between the stand and the ceiling. There was a blinding red flash and when the light disappeared there was a large glowing ball, the same size, if not larger then Ho-oh.

"What's that?" Rick asked.

Misty, Pikachu and Raichu were just as confused as Rick was, that is until a picture began to form in the glowing ball.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu cried as the picture showed Ash, knocked out, in a corridor they'd never seen before.

"What's going on?" Misty asked.

"We have a few surprises in store for your little friend" 'Ash' said. "So just sit back and watch. Who knows, it might be amusing for you to watch him die, I know it will be for me. Oh, and I wouldn't try that" 'Ash' said as Rick made a move to get a Pokéball. His eyes glowed and Rick, along with Pikachu, Misty and Raichu, were lifted off the ground and slammed against the wall. Chains shot out of the wall and tied them so they couldn't move. "Why don't you just hang around for a while?"

Rick struggled to get free, but the chains seemed to be unbreakable.

"Just sit back and enjoy the show" 'Ash' said grinning.

-----------

To Be Continued

-----------

Heehee, like it? I do! If you don't like the idea of Ash or Ho-oh going through pain, you'll probably not like the next chappy. Just a little warning ^_^ Well see ya in the next chappy and reviews are appreciated.  
Bay Bay!  
Bayleef  
adorable_chickorita@hotmail.com


	8. Too Many Traps

** Chapter Eight - Too Many Traps**

** Ash groaned and opened his eyes. He had a throbbing headache and he didn't know why. He sat up and held his head. "Ow, what happened?" He looked around and saw there was no one there. "What the..? Hello?" He called looking around, but there was no answer. He groaned and rubbed his head. "What the heck happened?" The last thing he remembered was going down some sort of slide and then, a huge rock stuck out of the ceiling. _"Well guess I know were I got the headache"_**

He stood up and looked around. A fire rail also lighted this corridor, but even though the flames were brighter, the area felt colder.

----------- 

Pikachu bit onto the chain as hard as he could, but he was rewarded with a sore tooth. He growled at the Ditto, who still looked like Ash and was standing in front of them grinning.

"Try all you want" The Ditto Ash said. "You'll never get free"

Pikachu sighed and looked up at the giant orb in which he could see his trainers actions. "Pikapi..."

----------- 

Ash sighed and looked around. "Where'd they all go?" He frowned and looked at the corridor ahead of him. "Well, no were else to go but straight ahead" He began to walk down the corridor, still holding his head. _"How am I going to find them in a place like this?"_ He thought as he turned a corner and came to a dead end.

Ash had a strange feeling, like someone was watching him in some form or another, but that couldn't be. Could it?

He shook of the feeling and continued down the second passage beside him. He felt as though something bad was going to happen, and from what he'd learned this place had pretty dangerous and sneaky traps.

No sooner had that thought come to mind, than there was a loud rumbling sound. Ash looked around for the source and soon found it. There was a large hole across the roof, and out of it came large rocks, pelting straight towards him.

"Totodile go!" Ash threw a Pokéball and the tiny crocodile appeared in front of him, dancing happily as usual. "Totodile, water gun!"

Totodile stopped dancing and used water gun on each rock, as if it was target practise.

Totodile was doing well, knocking away every rock, until more rocks began to come down.

Totodile began to shoot the rocks with water gun faster and faster, but he missed one of them.

The rock pelted past the water gun and hit Ash right in the forehead, knocking him back. Totodile glanced back at his trainer and took a deep breath, firing off a powerful Hydro Pump. The Hydro Pump shot right into the hole and must have somehow blocked it up, because no more rocks came down.

Totodile ran over to Ash's side and tilted his head. "Totodile?" He asked, worried.

Ash pushed himself up and held his head. "Good job Totodile. Take a rest" He returned the small water Pokémon back into his Pokéball. He lowered his hand over his face and felt something damp. He pulled his hand away and looked at it. It was covered in blood, the rock must have cut him. He sighed and stood up, continuing down the corridor.

----------- 

Pikachu cringed when he saw the rock hit Ash straight in the forehead. He sighed when Ash got up but frowned when he saw his trainers blood-covered face. [Please, leave him alone] Pikachu said to the Ditto.

'Ash' shook his head. "But I'm only getting started" He grinned and turned back to the giant glowing ball in the air.

----------- 

Ash turned and headed down another path. He kept a sharp eye for anything unusual. There was a strange sound that came from behind him and he turned to see a wall of what looked like dagger blades farther back. He looked at it for a second before one of the daggers shot out. "What the...?!" He jumped out of the way of the dagger but just barely dodged it. He looked back and saw that four more daggers were heading towards him. He did the only thing he could think of, he turned and ran.

Soon a fury of daggers were chasing him, some flying past him. He winced as one of the daggers cut the side of his face as he ran. He looked ahead and noticed that there was a turn. If he could get there before the daggers got to him he should be ok. He ran as fast as he could towards the turn, but suddenly felt a sharp pain in his right leg. He tried to ignore it but it was so sore, he was practically limping.

He reached the corner and fell out of the path of the daggers, breathing heavily. He heard the daggers driving into the walls. The pain in his leg was killing him now so he pushed himself up into a sitting position, and noticed the dagger handle sticking out of the back of his leg between his knee and his ankle. He reached down and gasped as he pulled it out. He looked at the blood-covered dagger for a second then threw it aside. He pushed himself up and winced as the pain retuned, though not as bad this time. "Well there's no point in stopping, I've got to find the others" He began to walk down the corridor, leaving the sound of the daggers driving into the wall behind and limping slightly.

----------- 

It was pretty quiet for a while. There were no traps, which suited Ash perfectly, but no sign of his friends, which didn't suit Ash at all.

Why was he the one to get stuck in all the traps? Was there someone trying to kill him? Even since the beginning of this journey he was always the one to fall into the traps. Maybe it was because he was always the one leading but he didn't know for sure.

He stopped after a while for a rest. His leg was no longer bleeding but it hurt, and he still had blood all over his face. He had some bandages and other stuff in his bag, but after what happened last time he didn't want to try using them.

He sat down in a corridor and leaned against the wall. This really wasn't his day.

----------- 

"Come on, give the kid a break" Rick said as he watched Ash sit down. "He can't handle this by himself, and he doesn't deserve this"

"I don't think he's going through enough" the Ditto Ash said. "I think I'll call on the Dark Rapidash next"

"Dark Rapidash?" Misty asked, not liking the sound of it.

"Yes, didn't you know there is a Dark type of every Pokémon? From Dark Ho-oh, to Dark Caterpie" 'Ash' explained. "Now lets see how he handle's Rapidash.

----------- 

Ash heard a strange noise around him, like hooves of stone. He looked up, but the corridor was empty. He didn't like the way the sounds started getting louder, so he stood up and walked quietly down the corridor in the direction of the sounds. _"What's going on?"_ He looked around a corner and thought he saw something move. He stopped for a second. Should he go check it out? In a place like this he'd be better off not to, but curiosity got the better of him so he walked down the corridor.

Suddenly, he saw a flame ahead of him, it seemed to be hanging in the middle of the dark corridor. But when he had a closer look, he noticed they were connected to something. A Rapidash. But this Rapidash was different, it's fur was pitch black instead of the normal creamy-white, and it's red eyes seemed to be filled with evil.

Ash suddenly had the feeling that he wanted to be back with the daggers. And before he knew it, the Rapidash had ran up to him and reared up, thrash it's diamond hard hooves out.

Ash couldn't move much in the small area, and soon he felt one of those hooves strike his shoulder. He fell back and looked up, just in time to see the Rapidash bring it's hooves down on his right leg. The was a horrible surge of pain and a sickening crack as he felt the bone in his leg snap. He yelled and, before he knew what he was doing, raised his hands and shot a red beam at the Rapidash.

The Rapidash let out a neigh of pain, which soon subsided as the Rapidash was reduced to dust.

Ash fell back and lay there, breathing heavily and staring at the ceiling. His leg hurt worse than ever now and he couldn't move because it hurt too much.

----------- 

Pikachu grinned as the Dark Rapidash was destroyed and looked down at the Ditto Ash. [You see? How do you expect to defeat that kind of power? When Ash gets here your going to turn out like that Rapidash]

The Ditto Ash glared up at Pikachu, but then he laughed. "You think he stands a chance? Just take a look at him" He glanced up to the image of Ash. "He is weak and in attacking the Rapidash, he subconsciously used up more power than expected. He's exhausted his power, he's injured and…oh would you believe it? He's on a direct path to this room"

Raichu and Pikachu instantly started trying to use their attacks to escape, but the chains absorbed the electricity. Pikachu growled and struggled to get free, but it was no use. 

"Don't worry little Pikachu" The Ditto Ash said. "As soon as I've finished with your trainer, I'll deal with all of you"

----------- 

Ash lay still for a while. What was going on? The traps around this place seemed to follow him and he kept feeling like he was being watched.

He sat up and cringed as he felt a pain in his leg. Now he had the feeling that his friends were in trouble, or else going to be. He looked ahead and noticed a large door. He sighed and stood up of his left leg. He walked, or more likely hopped, to the door and placed his hand on it. He pushed it open and looked in.

There in the centre of the room he saw...himself?

"Pikapi!"

Ash looked around and saw Pikachu and the others. "What the heck? What are you doing up there?"

"Having a tea party" Rick said sarcastically. "What does it look like were doing?"

Ash looked back to the centre of the room. "Who are you?"

"World's greatest Ditto at your service" Ditto Ash said.

"Ditto?" It took a while for it to click. He frowned and looked at the others then back to Ditto. "Let them go"

"Well, I might" Ditto Ash said. "If...you fight me and win. No Pokémon"

Ash gave the Ditto a strange look. "Fight you?" He looked himself over. How was he supposed to fight in this condition?

"If you don't, then I'll just finish off your friends and then get you" Ditto Ash said.

Ash looked at the other and closed his eyes. "Alright then" He looked at the Ditto and walked forward, or so to speak.

Ditto Ash's eyes glowed and the narrow path to the center of the room got wider, so it was now just big enough for them to stand on. "Ash, no!" Misty yelled. "Get out of here!"

Ash shook his head but didn't say anything. He walked onto the path and stopped in the centre.

Ditto Ash stepped forwards. "Ready to fight Ketchum?"

Ash found this very strange because it was like talking to his reflection, but he nodded.

The Ditto Ash grinned and stood in a fighting stance. "Prepare to lose more than your life"

-----------

To Be Continued

-----------

Well, did ya like it? I hope you guys are enjoying me stories. I've got more to work on so see ya next time! Oh, and please review.  
Bay Bay!  
Bayleef  
adorable_chickorita@hotmail.com


	9. Good vs Evil

** Chapter Nine - Good vs. Evil**

** Ash and the Ditto Ash stood opposite each other, both with their fists raised. "Ready loser?" Ditto Ash said.**

Ash narrowed his eyes. It was a Gary version of himself talking.

"I'll take that as a yes" Ditto said. He ran forward without warning and raised his fist, giving Ash a blow to the face.

Ash stumbled back and nearly fell over to edge, but manage to keep his balance. He looked down and sighed before looking back at the Ditto. He couldn't move much, so he couldn't surprise Ditto in any way with speed, which is what he'd usually do in this sort of situation. With his speed taken away from him after he broke his leg, he was at a huge disadvantage.

Still, he wouldn't give up and he decided to do his best in trying to attack. He moved away from the edge and stood, deciding it was best to wait for the Ditto to come to him.

Ditto Ash ran forward again and tried to give Ash another punch in the face.

Ash was ready this time and he was able to dodge the attack. He grabbed onto Ditto's arm and twisted it around.

Ditto grinned and easily escaped by using his other hand to punch Ash in the side of the head.

Ash stumbled near the edge again put this time something grabbed him before he fell off. He looked back and saw the Ditto grinning at him as it pulled him up and punched him in the back of the head, causing him to fall flat on his stomach.

"Is that all you got?" Ditto Ash said walking over beside him. He reached down and grabbed Ash's back-pack, pulling it off him. "I was expecting more of a challenge but I guess I should have known you were to weak"

Ash groaned and looked up at the Ditto. Normally he would have blasted him back with a Ho-oh powered attack, but he could feel that he had used to much against the Rapidash. He dragged his hands across the ground towards him and pushed himself onto his hands and knees, feeling a sharp pain in his broken leg.

Ditto Ash clasped both his hands together in a fist and raised them, bringing them down on the back on Ash's head.

Ash fell once more, but this time he didn't try to get up. He felt another pain in his side as Ditto's foot struck him. He rolled over and then noticed that he was already to near the edge, and fell off. He grabbed onto the side of the path with his left hand as hard as he could and looked down. It was completely black below him and he for one didn't want to know what was beyond the shadows, if there was anything apart from a bottomless pit.

Ditto Ash grinned and walked over to the side. "You shouldn't mess with things you can't defeat kid" Ditto said as he raised his foot and brought it down hard on Ash's fingers.

Ash cringed and closed his eyes tight. He felt Ditto kick his foot forward and his fingers losing their grip. He tried to make a grab for the edge with his other hand, but there was no way he could reach it.

"Ash!" Misty and Rick called.

"Pikapi!"

"Raichurai!"

"So long Ketchum" Ditto Ash said, grinning all the while.

----------- 

Ash felt the wind rush past him as he fell. There was nothing he could do to stop himself from falling. He'd fallen to far to use Bayleef or Bulbasaur's Vine Whip, and Noctowl wasn't strong enough to hold him up for to long. He closed his eyes. Maybe this was it for him.

While his eyes were closed, he heard a femilier sound of a Pokéball opening. He felt his legs slam into something as he landed on something. He looked up to see a badly wounded Ho-oh, on whos back he was after landing. "Ho-oh, your ok!"

_"Barely. Why didn't you let me out to help? And why does my leg hurt so much?!"_ Ho-oh said as it flapped it's huge wings to stop them from falling.

"Maybe because it's broken" Ash said looking at his own broken leg.

_"Broken?! What do you mean broken?"_ Ho-oh said.

"Broken as in snapped...not working" Ash said as he looked up.

Ho-oh glared at him then groaned. _"My fingers hurt"_ "You don't have fingers" Ash pointed out.

Ho-oh looked at it's left wing. _"Oh ya. Ok then, my wing hurts. And so does the rest of me, you have no idea"_

Ash gave Ho-oh a strange look.

_"Oh...right"_ Ho-oh said. _"Well fill me in, whats going on?"_

"Long story short" Ash said looking down beside Ho-oh and then back up, "I ran into a few traps and got hurt before coming into this room and meeting a Ditto that looked exactly like me. We fought and I lost"

Ho-oh sighed and closed it's eyes. It glowed slightly red and it's wounds began to disappear.

"Recover..." Ash said as he felt his strength returning and his leg healing. Why hadn't he thought of that? Pretty soon, Ash felt back to normal if not better than before. She grinned and looked at Ho-oh, who was grinning too. "Let's show that Dark Ditto what happens when it messes with us!"

Ho-oh let out a war cry and flew powerfully and quickly towards the path that lay above them.

Ash gripped onto the Ho-oh's back feathers tightly, but didn't take his eyes of the path.

----------- 

The chains suddenly disappeared from around Rick, Misty, Raichu and Pikachu. The four fell to the ground put were able to stay standing. Rick angrily took out a Pokéball and threw it. "Charizard go!"

Ditto grinned and his eyes glowed red.

The Pokéball landed on the ground and the energy that would form the Pokémon began to come out, but it stopped and was sucked back in. The Pokéball shut and flew back into Rick's hand.

Rick looked at the Pokéball. "Hey, what happened?"

"Your Pokémon can't come out, there being forced back by a dark, ancient power you could never defeat" Ditto said.

Rick was about to make a run forward at the Ditto when he heard a claging noise. He looked down and noticed that shackles had appeared around his ankles, as well as his wrists. Misty was the same and Pikachu and Raichu had shackles around their stomachs and were trying to run forward too.

Ditto sighed. "This is too easy" He looked at Ash's back-pack, which he had grabbed earlier. He opened it and put his hand in. He grinned when he felt something round and smooth and pulled it out. A Dark Orb sat in his hand. He looked into the bag again and saw the other three Orbs sitting at the bottom. "Ah, you've brought me just what I wanted"

Rick pulled on the chains. "What are you talking about?"

Ditto picked up the other Dark Orbs and walked to the center of the room. "You have brought to me the only thing that I need to reserect Dark Ho-oh!" He threw the orbs up into the giant ball of black energy.

"Stop!"

"What?" Ditto turned around just in time to see Ash jump of Ho-oh and ram into him. He pushed himself and turned to Ash, who was standing a metre in front of him. "It's too late Ketchum" He pointed to the Orb behind him. "Dark Ho-oh has already arrived"

Ash looked at the dark ball of energy in front of him. A black mist flew around the outside of it, and then he saw them open, the horrible, evil-filled, lifeless, glowing, red eyes that only belonged to one Pokémon...Dark Ho-oh.

-----------

To Be Continued

-----------

Muhahaha! The birds are back! Both of 'em! Ho-oh and Ho-oh! Heehee, sorry this part wasn't so good, but I wanted to get a part up. I'm banned from the internet until next Friday, so there'll be no more stories till Saturday 8th. Don't worry, I'm gonna work on the parts of the stories anyway, so I may have a few parts up on Saturday, hopefully. Thanks for all the reviews and I read 'em all so please give me one. Well I guess thats all for now,

Bay Bay!  
Bayleef  
adorable_chickorita@hotmail.com


	10. Good vs Evil Round Two

** Chapter Ten - Good vs. Evil, Round Two**

** Ash stood, frozen, as the form of Dark Ho-oh began to take shape inside the orb of energy.**

Ho-oh turned to Rick and the others. It's eyes glowed a little and the shackles disappeared from around their wrists and ankles. It turned back to the orb and growled as a form of Dark Ho-oh began to emerge from it.

The orb grew slightly and then exploded, sending Ash falling over the edge of the path again, but Ho-oh grabbed his jacket and pulled him up. He thanked Ho-oh and looked back were the energy orb once was. Now in it's place stood a evil looking, black version of Ho-oh, it's red eyes glowing brightly. Beside it stood the Ditto, still looking like Ash.

Dark Ho-oh stretched. _"Small minds are easily tricked"_ It said, grinning at Ash.

"What? What does it mean?" Misty asked, walking over beside Ash.

"It's means..." Ash said. "...that we were supposed to destroy the orbs as soon as we got them, but we thought we had to bring them all together. By doing that, Ditto was able to bring Dark Ho-oh back by combining the remaining powers of all the Dark Legendaries into one. It was a trick"

Ho-oh glared at Dark Ho-oh. _"Let's fight, you and me"_

"And I challenge you" Ash said pointing to Ditto.

Ditto and Dark Ho-oh grin at each other. _"Alright, we accept"_ Dark Ho-oh said.

Ash turned to Rick and tossed him a Pokéball. "This is Ho-oh's Pokéball, take care of it in case something happens.

Ditto climbed onto Dark Ho-oh's back and grinned. "Let's finish this outside" Dark Ho-oh spread it's wings and flew up towards the roof. It almost instantly opened and Dark Ho-oh flew out.

Ho-oh spread it's wings and flew forward past Ash, who grabbed on as the bird flew past and climbed onto it's back.

"Ash, are you crazy?!" Misty yelled after him, but was already gone.

Rick looked at her. "I know your worried about him, but he believes he must do this, so just trust him" He threw Charizards Pokéball again and the dragon-like Pokémon appeared in front of him. He also released Pidgeot and looked at Misty. "Well I dunno about you, but I'm not just gonna sit here and not see what's going on"

Rick and Raichu mounted Charizard and Misty and Pikachu mounted Pidgeot. The four flew out towards the roof and towards the battle outside.

----------- 

Ho-oh followed Dark Ho-oh towards the top of the mountain, which was covered in snow and ice. Ash shivered as an icy wind blew past him and he saw his breath turn to fog. He looked at the sky and noticed something different. It was no longer completely black, there were stars! And the moon too! Looks like the energy from the veil was taken to help bring Dark Ho-oh back. He looked at his watch and noticed it was 22:57. He sighed and turned his attention away from the sky and back to Dark Ho-oh and Ditto.

The two Ho-oh stopped at the top on the mountain and lowered their riders down. The top of the mountain was unusually flat, like a large piece had been knocked off the top.

Ash looked at the rock under him and noticed it wasn't rock at all, but ice. "You want us to fight on a frozen lake?!" Ash yelled at the Ditto and Dark Ho-oh.

_"Makes an interesting battle"_ Dark Ho-oh said. _"Now to battle"_

Ash and Ditto faced each other again, but before they began, Dark Ho-oh hit them, including itself and Ho-oh, with a black beam, which didn't hurt them but knocked them back a little.

"Hey! What was that about?!" Ash yelled up to Ho-oh.

_"It's just so I don't feel any pain you give Ditto and Ditto doesn't feel any pain Ho-oh gives me. It's the same for you and your flying turkey friend over there"_ Dark Ho-oh said grinning at Ho-oh.

Ho-oh growled and narrowed it's eyes. _"I am not a flying turkey!"_

_"Yes, you just keep believing that until you're served as Christmas dinner"_ Dark Ho-oh flapped it's wings and flew up above Ho-oh. _"Give me your best shot"_

_"We'll see who's served as dinner"_ Ho-oh angrily flew forward and shot a Fire Blast at the Dark Ho-oh.

Dark Ho-oh countered with it's own dark Fire Blast, causing a small explosion and smoke to rise. Through the smoke Ho-oh flew forward and drove it's talon deeply into Dark Ho-oh's back as it flew over it.

Dark Ho-oh growled and spun around chomping onto Ho-oh's leg.

----------- 

Below, Ash and Ditto had also started the fight, and already Ditto had received a punch in the eye and shoulder, and Ash had been kicked in the stomach and also had been punched in the eye.

"Is that all you've got?" Ash said. Of coarse he didn't mean it, that Ditto could punch hard, really hard.

Ditto ran forward and made a move to punch Ash in the face again.

Ash was able to dodge this time and he grabbed onto Ditto's arm, twisting it up behind it's back.

Ditto should have been in pain, but it just grinned. "I'm a Ditto stupid, you can't hurt me this way"

Even when Ash twisted Ditto's arm the whole way up so his hand was by it's neck, it showed no signs of pain. Ash shivered. "This is creepy"

Ditto grinned and dropped, kicking Ash's legs out from under him. He twisted his arm up more until it was back in the right place and stood up.

Ash felt a little sick. Ditto had just twisted it's arm the whole way around, which was physically impossible without breaking your arm or ripping it out completely, and it didn't hurt him in the slightest.

"Aww, are you squeamish?" Ditto said grinning.

Ash shook his head and stood up awkwardly on the ice. "Well I guess the only way to defeat you is with fists"

"Bring it on" Ditto said, raising his fists too.

----------- 

Ho-oh shot another fire Blast at Dark Ho-oh, engulfing it in the flames. _"How do you like your flying dark turkey? Medium or well done?"_ Ho-oh said as it continued the attack.

Dark Ho-oh broke through the Fire Blast and slammed into Ho-oh, knocking it back. It then fired a Fire Blast at Ho-oh.

Ho-oh used a Protect attack and shot forward with a fly attack.

Dark Ho-oh used Detect and dodged the Fly attack, slashing Ho-oh in the back with it's talon.

----------- 

Ash was a better fighter than Ditto had expected, and had the upper-hand. Ditto decided it was time to use his powers.

"Ready to surrender?" Ash asked as the Ditto stood on his hands and knees, panting. Ash had been punched in the face and kicked. He'd been tripped by Ditto, he'd slipped on the ice and he'd crashed more than once into Ditto when he tried to stop.

Ditto laughed a little and looked up. "Not by a long shot" Without warning Ditto jumped up and raised his arm. His arm changed shape and formed into a silver mace.

Before Ash could move the mace was slammed into his stomach and pulled away quickly. He doubled over and fell to his knees, clutching his stomach and gasping for breath.

Ditto ginned and 'skated' backwards away from Ash. He raised his hand again and it changed into a mallet of some sort. He raised his arm and brought the mallet down on the ice.

There was a vibration before the ice began to crake, heading straight towards Ash. When the reached him the ice began to separate. Having a bad since of balance, he wasn't able to stay on and fell into the icy water. The cold was too much for him to withstand and he fell into unconsciousness.

Ditto's hand changed back to normal and he skidded across the ice, jumping from one ice board to the next. He got near were Ash was and dived in. He grabbed Ash and pulled him above water. He swam to the edge of the lake and pulled himself out. He seemed unaffected by the cold and sat silently by the side, Ash lay beside him.

----------- 

In his unconscious mind, he could tell something was wrong. He couldn't move or do anything else for the matter, but he knew that he was in trouble. _"Ho-oh..."_

----------- 

Ho-oh backed up and froze. _"Ash? Ash what's wrong?"_ When he got no reply he began to get worried. It quickly turned from Dark Ho-oh and flew back to were the lake was.

Bad idea.

Dark Ho-oh took it's chance and shot forward with a Drill Peck, driving right into Ho-oh's back. It flew forward and little and clutched Ho-oh in it's claw around the neck, stopping it from breathing. When Ho-oh had practically stopped moving, Dark Ho-oh flew back to the lake, still with Ho-oh clutched in it's claw.

When it reached the lake and saw Ditto sitting with his arms folded by the side of the lake, along with an unconscious Ash, it grinned and tossed Ho-oh down.

Ho-oh slammed into the ice and it shattered under it's weight. It panicked at the feeling of the freezing cold water and used it's wings to reach the surface. It was paralysed from the cold and too weak to move as it slouched over on the ice, half on it still in the water.

Ho-oh opened it's eyes weakly and saw Dark Ho-oh talking to Ditto and then grinning at Ash, who was still out cold. Dark Ho-oh opened it's beak and bent it's head down to Ash.

Ho-oh instantly had the feeling Dark Ho-oh wanted to make a snack out of Ash and made an attempt to get up, but it couldn't move.

Dark Ho-oh did something Ho-oh didn't expect. It gently picked Ash up by the jacket and looked at Ditto. It bent down and Ditto climbed on. When Ditto was ready, Dark Ho-oh grinned at Ho-oh and spread it's wings, taking off at a high speed, bringing Ash with it.

----------- 

Ho-oh opened it's eyes but quickly shut them as the sun hit it's eyes. Wait a minute, the sun? Ho-oh opened it's eyes and looked up. It was the sun! Ho-oh looked around and noticed that it was no longer up at Mount. Silver, but in the cave of the mountain. Rick must have returned it and brought it here . It noticed Rick and the others nearby and tilted it's head. _"What's going on?"_

Pikachu turned around and looked at Ho-oh. [They took Ash]

_"What?!"_ Ho-oh jumped up and stomped it's foot off the ground. _"We have to go help him"_

Rick turned around and looked at Ho-oh. "We would if we had any idea were he was"

Misty looked at Rick. "We'll know if Ash is in any pain because Ho-oh will feel it too right?"

"Ya, the spell was lifted as soon as Ash left the mountain. So let's just hope Ho-oh doesn't feel any pain" Rick said and looked down at Pikachu, who had his ears lowered so much they were nearly flat against his head.

_"Well we can't just give up!"_ Ho-oh said.

"Who says we're giving up?" Rick stood up. "I'm gonna head off to look for him, now that it's still dark"

_"Me too...but....why does it have to be dark?"_ Ho-oh asked a little confused.

"Well we don't want anyone seeing you do we?" Rick said.

_"But the journalist..."_

"Ash gave me an idea for that" Rick said. "When he said it wasn't a real Ho-oh, it gave me an idea. I got my Misdreavus to make an illusion of a Ho-oh. Everyone believes it was just a Misdreavus now"

Misty spoke up. "But won't Dark Ho-oh come out during the day?"

_"No, sunlight weakens Dark Ho-oh, that's why it covered the world in darkness"_ Ho-oh explained.

"Well lets get going then!" Rick said releasing his Charizard and Pidgeot once more and looked outside.

Two minutes later, with Raichu and Rick riding Charizard, and Misty and Togepi riding Pidgeot, Ho-oh flew out of the cave with the others following. "But Dark Ho-oh may be too strong for anyone to defeat" Misty said.

_"Not necessarily"_ Ho-oh said. _"Back in the time when the Dark Legendaries were banished to the Shadow Realm, it was done so by two things. The White Ho-oh's power contained in the Solis Sword, and a Ho-oh's ultimate attack"_

_"Ho-oh's ultimate attack?"_ Rick thought.

_"A Ho-oh's ultimate attack is a secret attack that can only be used when a Ho-oh's power is combined to the one who shares it"_

"You mean Ash?" Misty asked.

Ho-oh nodded. _"Yes, if Ash and I don't focus our powers and work as one, share the same mind, we won't be able to call upon the attack"_

"What's the attack called?" Rick asked curiously.

Ho-oh closed it's eyes for a second then answered. "Rainbow Flame"

-----------

The End

-----------

I guess you guys know what "The End" means by now in these stories. It means there's gonna be a sequel! Lol. I'm gonna work on the next story as soon as possible. Well, I'd like to know what you guys think so far, is it good or horrible? I'm expecting complants of the continuous sequels ^_^;;. Please review!  
Bay Bay!  
Bayleef  
adorable_chickorita@hotmail.com


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